


je t'aime [5+1 fic]

by tsuluio



Series: the oc universe [5]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Disabled Character, Fluff, High School AU, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, light body horror not really, very very gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22287019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuluio/pseuds/tsuluio
Summary: Kyo spends a very very long school year trying to tell Chase (in English) that he loves him.ORFour Times Kyo Said I Love You in French to Chase and One Time He Did But Explained What It Actually Means
Relationships: Kyo (OC)/Chase (OC), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: the oc universe [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604218
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	je t'aime [5+1 fic]

**Author's Note:**

> octolings are hced as french in this au, everyone is human, and uhh kyo is actually half salmonid and half octoling hahah he belongs to my best friend !!

The first time is just a test. A test of his feelings, maybe, but also more on Chase's French skills because Kyo isn't ready to use English just yet.

"What're you studying today?" Kyo asks, leaning over Chase's shoulder, the shorter moving slightly over to playfully block his vision. He leans back again, disappointed. "Math?"

"Close." Chase waves a pencil at Kyo absently. "History."

That's not close at all, but Kyo smiles anyway. "Are you minding if I watch?"

"No, uh, you're good." Chase goes back to his work. The eraser end of his pencil is slightly dented, probably from biting it somewhere along midterms, and the sun shining through the trees above illuminates his hair, giving it almost a shining glow. The stupid streaks of faded hair dye are turned to a brilliant white in the sunlight. Kyo has to force himself to stop staring. This crush was getting a little out of hand, and he wished he could just tell the other that he liked him without the possibility of rejection.

Wait. Maybe there  _ was _ a way.

Carefully shifting his position on the bench, he is careful to avoid looking directly at Chase as he mutters, "Je t'aime."

Chase looks up. "What?"

Kyo meets his gaze, trying not to give himself away. "Sorry?"

"You just, uh, you just said something. In French, I think." A long pause. "What does that mean?"

To be honest, Kyo hadn't really expected Chase to pick up on the French bit, but it was there now and the other teen was waiting expectantly for a reply. "Uhm. It's just a phrase we use a lot in France. Kinda like... an exclamation."

"An exclamation," Chase repeats, but his expression is anything but dubious. It's more confused in a way, and Kyo recognizes it as what he looks like when he's trying to figure something out in class that he doesn't quite get. 

"Yeah." Kyo suddenly feels oddly sweaty. "An exclamation!" He smiles hesitantly.

"Cool." Chase turns back to his history homework and Kyo exhales.

He feels relieved and disappointed at the same time. This whole crush thing is going to be hard to work around.

\--

The second time is after the accident. 

Kyo's stuck in some kind of trance, some reality, the one where Chase didn't get into a car crash, the one where he was still there with him in class, the one where if he went to school, Chase would just be waiting for him in front, hair mussed, clothes wrinkled, bag half open, and when he sees Kyo, he would wave and smile and Kyo would smile back because Chase was okay, Chase was fine, Chase--

"He is stable." Those are the first words Elliot says when they meet up afterschool. 

"Stable?" Rumi repeats. "You're sure?"

"I never lie." Elliot mimes stabbing out his eye. "They are allowing visitors, so if any of you want to go right now--"

Kyo is already walking away. 

The hospital is only a few blocks away and Kyo gets in without any trouble. "I want to see Chase, please."

The receptionist looks up past her glasses at him. "Are you a friend or..."

Kyo's heart lurches. "Yeah. A friend."

The receptionist waves him down to a stark white door, and Kyo manages to stable his breathing before pushing it open.

It's almost something out of a dream, except this is more a nightmare. The only sound is the constant beeping of monitors echoing along the walls. Chase stands out against the pristine sheets, hair still as much a mess as it usually it, and that calms Kyo considerably. The observations of the rest of his body create completely the opposite reaction. 

There are bandages covering what looks like half of Chase's arm, the other half lost to the sheets-- or did Chase actually lose his arm? The thought makes Kyo's stomach turn and he looks away, startled by golden eyes suddenly staring at him from the bed.

"Kyo?" Chase's voice is faint, but there, and it feels like the ground is suddenly rushing up to meet him as Kyo stumbles forward, nearly falling into the bed itself.

"Chase. La _ vache.  _ Oh my god."

"Kyo, d-don't freak o--"

"Je t'aime," Kyo interrupts, voice breaking. "Je t'aime, d'accord?"

Chase only stares back, not understanding. "Kyo, you're-- you're speaking in French again."

"Je sais." Kyo forces himself not to grab Chase's free hand out of temptation. "I know."

\--

The third time is when Chase shows back up at school. He's been in the hospital for a month at least and Kyo wouldn't be lying if he said he had missed him a lot.

The first thing that Kyo notices is that the other is way more awkward and quiet than he was before all of this happened. His left forearm, Elliot had said, was replaced by a prosthetic, and he still had a lot of scars and replaced organs and transfused blood in addition to that. The physical damage hadn't been fleeting, the mental damage much less so.

It was like an entirely new person, except whenever Kyo approached, Chase always greeted him with the same smile he always had, but his right hand went to grasp at his other arm, as if he wanted to pull it off.

Kyo glosses over it, because he's sure that's what Chase wants him to do, and slowly but surely, the shorter boy's personality begins to seep back, albeit altered with way less self esteem. 

They can do this, Kyo reassures himself. They can do this.

"You think it's weird?" They're both staring down at Chase's arm, which has been replaced by sleek translucent plastic, shivering slightly the more Kyo looks. The wiring is slightly visible between each joint, and Kyo knows Chase is looking at him, waiting for a negative response.

"No," he says, tracing his eyes along the ridges of the other's arm before looking back up at Chase. There's apprehension there, and Kyo tries to squash it the best he can. "It looks really cool, actually!"

Confusion flashes across Chase's face. "It.. does?"

"Yeah!" Kyo beams at him. He's telling the truth as far as he's concerned; the arm makes it seem so much better, and honestly, he's just glad that Chase is alive. It's more badass anyway. "It's like something from a movie!"

A slight smile starts to appear on the other's face. "Really?"

Kyo nods eagerly. "It looks je t'aime!"

Okay, now he's cheating. It's just to hide the meaning of the words, nothing more, and Chase looking confused makes him forget the other doesn't know French.

"It looks what?"

"Awesome," Kyo fibs, and Chase smiles, rolling his sleeve back down to cover the prosthetic. 

"Thanks, Kyo. I guess it'll, uh, take some time to get used to. Sometimes I take it off and then try to grab something and it's.. weird." He looks into the distance as if he's watching himself do just that, before turning back to Kyo. "But really. Thanks."

The bell rings and Kyo watches Chase leave, and wonders if his crush increasing was even possible.

It probably was.

\--

The fourth time is during lunch with the rest of their friends. They're watching Chase pull Rumi into rehearsing his script -- what was the play again?  _ Sonia Flew _ ? -- with him for the billionth time, except Asuki's also there, eagerly playing Jenny, the daughter. Rumi is barely there, muttering along the lines with the enthusiasm of a drugged elderly substitute teacher falling asleep in the back of the classroom, except the character being played was some guy hellbent on going to war. She -- or was it they? Elliot had referred to them multiple times like that -- read so dully off the script it was almost embarrassing, while Asuki probably played off Jenny as way too upbeat and happy for an edgy teenager. Chase seemed to throw himself into his role and if lunchtime wasn't already loud enough, Kyo was still enraptured by his performance. 

He's so taken that he doesn't even notice when Chase slaps the script down in front of him, grinning widely -- one of the largest he's seen on the other's face since the accident. "How was that?"

Kyo blinks before the first words tumbling out his lips: "Je t'aime."

Chase tilts his head. "Sorry?"

Across the table, he hears snickering and sees Rumi grinning smugly at him, and next to them, Elliot shakes his head knowingly. Cupid, on Kyo's right with his shoes up on the lunch table, offers him a thumbs up. He catches the words, "avoir le béguin" and now all three are also waiting for his response. A heat rises to Kyo's face as he looks back at the confused person before him. "Oh. You did great."

Chase doesn't look convinced, and Kyo very quickly elaborates: "I loved it."

The other stares at him a moment before shrugging. "Okay. Thanks, Kyo." He offers Kyo a slight smile before picking his script back up and moving back to his seat. 

Asuki, who watched the whole exchange with confusion, edged closer to Kyo. "What'd you say to him?"

"'Great job'," Kyo lies, and while Asuki doesn't seem to buy it, but he beams anyway. 

"You do know you and Chase would make a great couple," he says earnestly before waving goodbye to Rumi and walking away. 

Kyo is just left to contemplate his thoughts.

\--

They're just hanging out, the two of them, and Kyo honestly is glad for this time alone. Chase's sisters are something close to a nightmare, and they know way too much for their own good. It seems the only time Chase actually tries to manage something is when he's forcing his sisters into their beds, but the girls are asleep now and the two of them are just sitting outside, the dark illuminated by the streetlamps along the road.

Kyo would be more occupied with his phone, like Chase is, but he can't stop sneaking glances.  _ Je t'aime _ , he says in his mind, and they're sitting apart far enough that if he mutters it, Chase  _ might _ not be able to hear...

"Je t'aime."

A long moment passes and Kyo starts to believe Chase hasn't heard it.

"You keep saying that," Chase says suddenly, and Kyo looks up at him in alarm.

"What?"

"You keep saying that thing, y'know..." he trails off, hesitant on actually pronouncing it since Kyo looks lost, "...je tem or something, I don't remember if you told me what it means..?"

Shit. 

Kyo considers lying or something again, but part of him doesn't want to. They're alone here as far as he's concerned, and that's the final push to the truth.

"It means... It means 'I love you'," he says finally, and Chase seems to freeze where he is, eyes wide.

"So-- so you've just been saying--"

"I love you," Kyo says, heart pounding. "I've been saying I love you. Because I do."

"I-- I don't understand--"

"Je t'aime," Kyo repeats. "I love you, Chase."

Chase stares for a minute longer and Kyo wonders if he has scared off his crush somehow. He backtracks. "I mean, if you are not feeling the same way--"

"N-no, it's fine." Chase looks like he's still frozen in a weird trance-like state, before he shakes his head. "It's fine, I just-- I thought I was crazy for liking you."

It takes a moment for the words to sink in. "You? Like me?"

"I mean, yeah! Fucking hell.... you're like,  _ hot _ and  _ tall _ and really... sweet?? And that accent--"

"Hang on," Kyo says finally. "You. Like me."

Chase turns to him, looking slightly frazzled, cheeks flushed. A hand is absently combing through his bangs, making it stand slightly on end, and Kyo briefly thinks of how cute he is, though it probably wouldn't help to say it aloud now. "Yeah. I have been ever since you came to that class and sat next to me. Elliot told me I was being an overemotional lovestruck fucking idiot and I  _ actually believed him _ \--" He stops, movements jerky as he turns to look at nothing in particular. "Fuck, he actually knew what you were saying too? And he didn't tell me? Rumi too? I'm gonna--"

"You  _ sound _ like Rumi," Kyo interjects and Chase spins to face him again.

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

They sit there, staring at each other in silence before Chase laughs. "God, we are so dumb."

Kyo smiles. "A bit obvious now, yes?"

"Obviously." 

Another long pause before Kyo sighs and stands, moving over to where Chase is standing. "Just kiss me, okay?"

Chase doesn't need to be told twice, for once in his life. He grabs Kyo's collar and yanks him to meet his lips.

It's awkward at first, especially with their height differences, but somehow it seems to click and suddenly it feels like the best thing in the world. If neither needed to breathe, they wouldn't have stopped.

They probably stand there for twenty minutes, just kissing, before Kyo pulls away. 

"Je t'aime," he says teasingly, and Chase blushes furiously.

"Shut up."

Kyo compromises and leans down to kiss him again.


End file.
